0:03

Hello there friends,

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both old and new. Welcome to the

0:06

strive seek fine podcast. I'm

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your host, Chatsworth, home to

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bite size, lifestyle advice from

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a fellow traveler on the road to

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a better life. Brought to you by

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someone who is a longtime

0:22

educator, writer, parent, and an

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outdoor enthusiast, who may just

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may like a good DRAM because our

0:31

future is set not just through

0:36

our choices, but by our

0:36

willingness to explore and find

0:41

a better way. Hello, friends,

0:41

welcome to as I record this, the

0:53

famous American holiday. Yeah,

0:53

it will be by the time I finish

1:02

President's Day weekend. I don't

1:02

know about you. But I work a job

1:10

where I have Monday off. So the

1:10

entire weekend just feels a

1:15

little less rushed. Because I

1:15

tend to save up all the errands

1:21

till Saturday or Sunday. And I'm

1:21

out of bed at six hitting the

1:26

grocery store and come right

1:26

back and get cooking then out

1:32

again for errands. So this is a

1:32

nice, relaxing pace of play type

1:39

day. And while I should be being

1:39

productive today, I'll be honest

1:44

about that. I'm not, I thought

1:44

it'd be kind of fun to share

1:52

something that I don't normally

1:52

share. You see the nature of my

1:58

job. Like many that deals with

1:58

the public sector means that a

2:05

good portion of what goes on

2:05

during the day is protected,

2:12

private. And I won't discuss

2:12

most of that until I am long

2:17

since retired. I do have a list

2:17

of things. So if I ever decide

2:23

and write down some of this

2:23

stuff, it would make an

2:29

unbelievable book. Because

2:29

there's no way people will

2:34

believe some of these stories.

2:34

Now in this case, I can tell

2:38

this because the when and the

2:38

where really doesn't matter. And

2:44

those of you who knew me in the

2:44

days that this occurred, we'll

2:49

know giggle just a little bit.

2:49

But today I thought I'd share a

2:55

story. The story of how I chance

2:55

Whitmore ended up with my own

3:04

personal law firm. The law firm

3:04

of Whitmore, Whitman, Woody,

3:13

more, white more, and whatever

3:13

other wit you can think of. And

3:20

I'll warn you before we start.

3:20

Don't take legal advice from any

3:25

of those guys. Who knows what

3:25

they're thinking. Now let's get

3:32

started. Where to begin? First

3:32

off, there's the obvious

3:37

disclaimer note. I am not an

3:37

attorney, I have no interest in

3:43

becoming an attorney. I don't

3:43

have the patience, as far as I

3:48

can tell for that. But where did

3:48

this come from? If you have

3:56

worked in a field where you are

3:56

dealing with people a lot, you

4:02

are eventually going to upset

4:02

sad people sometimes, let's say

4:09

a lot. And the why in the hell

4:09

don't matter. Well, just suffice

4:16

it to say I was trying to do my

4:16

job. What that job at the time

4:20

was a leave intentionally vague,

4:20

other than to say my job was to

4:27

make sure that I helped these

4:27

people, whether they liked it or

4:31

not. There in lies the point of

4:31

contention and conflict. They

4:38

didn't like the type of help I

4:38

was able to offer. And while I

4:42

wish I could share details to

4:42

show that I did indeed try to

4:47

lower this the level of concern

4:47

with this or try to come to a

4:55

conclusion that would allow all

4:55

sides to feel like they've had a

4:58

win that would tell you a little

4:58

bit too much of the story at

5:03

this point. So let's leave it at

5:03

this. There was a process, there

5:08

was a process ongoing that

5:08

lasted for many hours over the

5:13

course of many weeks before it

5:13

got to the point of, we could

5:18

not come to a workable solution.

5:18

So I invited them to take it to

5:24

the next person up the chain, as

5:24

you do got to try to solve their

5:30

problems somehow. And because I

5:30

can't do these unscripted things

5:33

without, let's say meandering

5:33

all over the place. I'd like to

5:38

just go ahead and throw out the

5:38

person who unintentionally gave

5:43

me this idea. Shout out to Heath

5:43

over at the 14 podcast, he does

5:49

a series of retirement rants

5:49

from time to time. And they got

5:54

me thinking about my own

5:54

stories, and starting to sift

5:58

and short sort on what I

5:58

possibly someday could share.

6:02

Now, there's a whole bunch I

6:02

will share here in about 10

6:06

years when I'm done. Those I

6:06

still remember, because let's be

6:12

honest, my wife says what about

6:12

this story? And until she

6:15

prompts me I'm like, oh, yeah,

6:15

that was hilarious. When it

6:19

happened. I wonder why I don't

6:19

remember it very well anymore.

6:22

Anyways, now a word from our

6:22

sponsor.

6:30

Yes, Dad, how we how I could

6:30

help his podcast. So he said I

6:35

could make a commercial. Let's

6:35

help get the word out. share

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this podcast with your friends.

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This is so important. We all get

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busy. Just the simple share

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helps keep people in the loop.

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One way you can do this is

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tagging the show, or using the

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keep seeking hashtag when you

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leave a review on Apple podcasts

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or pod chaser reviews help

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people find the pod. And

7:06

finally, if you want to help

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keep the lights on he's got a

7:12

buy me a coffee setup, keep him

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and research materials so he can

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keep putting out more strive

7:23

seek fine, the link is in the

7:23

show notes. Thanks for listening

7:27

to strive seek fight. Thanks, Trina for stepping in

7:29

again this week and being my

7:32

sponsor. Anyways, back to the

7:32

visit with my boss. It took a

7:39

little time. But afterwards, he

7:39

came in to talk to me. And what

7:43

came out of that meeting?

7:43

Doesn't matter. It's one thing

7:49

out of hundreds that year and

7:49

probably hundreds of 1000s in

7:56

the career. Slight overstatement

7:56

for effect. So it doesn't matter

8:03

now came in and said, Boy, they

8:03

did not like you said Fair

8:10

enough. I did my best. And he

8:10

goes I know you did what you're

8:14

supposed to do. And then he

8:14

goes, but they showed it in an

8:18

interesting way. I said what do

8:18

you mean? Well, every time they

8:23

mentioned you, you had a

8:23

different last name. said Come

8:27

on. They weren't being that

8:27

passive aggressive. With me at

8:32

least Nico Oh, no. They couldn't

8:32

remember the name or didn't want

8:37

to use the name Whitmore. So you

8:37

were one time they'd ask a

8:41

question. Well, that Mr.

8:41

Whitman. So I'd have to correct

8:46

them. And they would smile. And

8:46

then they'd go, that Mr.

8:49

Whitmore and then that Mr.

8:49

Whiteman and several other

8:56

variations. He giggled a little

8:56

bit, he left my office. I was

9:01

initially a little bit butthurt,

9:01

to be honest with you. But then

9:05

it hit me. It couldn't matter to

9:05

me, I'd done my job to the best

9:10

of my ability. Someone was

9:10

upset. I can't control their

9:14

responses. I can choose how I

9:14

can how I respond myself. So I

9:19

had to let it go. If that was

9:19

going to eat at me, I was going

9:24

to be done with the job long

9:24

before now. And it sat in the

9:29

back of my mind and I told a

9:29

couple of my friends what was

9:35

going on and slowly but surely

9:35

it morphed and became something

9:41

there's actually a video out

9:41

there somewhere of me on a hike

9:45

knocking down a tree as a quote

9:45

unquote Chase Whitman Attorney

9:50

at Law. It became a joke. And it

9:50

continued to become a joke. So

9:56

one day I came across a lawyer's

9:56

card that someone had dropped on

10:02

my desk. It was the standard

10:02

card that you get. When you're

10:07

walking out of diners and

10:07

confined the attorneys listed.

10:11

They're here call us when you

10:11

have these concerns. So for fun,

10:17

I sat down, and I printed out

10:17

the names Whitman, white, more

10:25

women, and white more Attorneys

10:25

at Law, I stuck it to the card

10:32

and pinned it to my boss's wall.

10:32

Because it was uproariously

10:36

funny. By that point. One of my

10:36

best friends still read make

10:40

sure to at least twice a week

10:40

refer to me as Chase white more

10:46

just because it amuses him. The

10:46

lessons I learned from this are

10:50

obvious, I think, one, you can't

10:50

let things get personal and you

10:56

can't let them eat you. And if

10:56

someone else tries to make it

11:01

personal, to make you mad, you

11:01

got to put it aside. And

11:05

remember, they're probably doing

11:05

the best they can. And if they

11:10

try to personalize it, step

11:10

back. Breathe, let it go.

11:15

Because when the situation is

11:15

over, it could be the funniest

11:20

damn thing you've ever heard. So

11:20

tonight, this is Chase Whitman.

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Fictional Attorney at Law,

11:25

letting you know that no trees

11:29

were destroyed in the creation

11:29

of this podcast, even as I sign

11:34

off Well, friends that's it for

11:34

this week's edition of strife

11:40

seek find. Thank you again for

11:40

listening. If you'd like to join

11:44

the discussion, or have ideas

11:44

for future episodes, hop on over

11:49

to the strife seek find podcast

11:49

group on Facebook.

11:52

Alternatively, if Facebook's not

11:52

your thing, you can find me on

11:58

Instagram at strife seek find

11:58

podcast on Twitter, as at chance

12:04

Whitmore five, or even on email.

12:04

The links for all those are in

12:09

the show notes below. Until next

12:09

time, my friends, keep seeking

12:14

your own brilliant future